sociology 312

January 12 2012 SOCI 312Gender RelationsQuick ReviewStory of XLois Gould feminist writerWritten in 1978exploring what would happen if one chose to raise their child without gender actually happening in some places negative repercussions do exist Lorbers ArticleSocieties give meaning to physical differences as a way to justify inequalities gendering in sports malefemale abilitiestraits are judgedvalued differently in societyAscribing gender to Caster Semenya South African runner who broke the 800m record won gold at the 2009 World Championships Gender questionedblurs lines between gendersexquestions arose towards her sex Picture of Semenya shown Looking at aspects such as body language dress breast appearance Semenya could be said to be masculine lookingIAAF started doing tests to figure out her sex a barrage of tests were done tests were inconclusive Semenya also had a makeover to appear more feminineNPR radio piece UCLA doctor interviewed is there a medical definition of sexNo Different types of sex anatomic chromosomic internalexternal genitalia etc its what we feel like we are its about identityGender divides as a categoryartificial category we have ideas about how men and women compete in different ways must come up with ways to separate but simple biological tests arent enough just having testes may not be enough of an advantage probably not functioning wellmale to female transsexuals can compete as women a few years after the operation